Brick and mortar retail shops were built to lasts. There was an expectation that each brick
would support and protect the shoppers who entered the retail shop. Today, what physically supports the eCommerce
shop? In the virtual world of on-line
retailing, shoppers experience the non-physical experience of their purchase;
that is, until it arrives.
We were visiting family in Canada this past January. I agree, after the winter much of North
America experienced, Hawaii would have been the better choice. Nonetheless, my husband and son wanted to Ski
in the Rockies….so off we went.
We arrived to my sister’s home near Banff, Alberta with
loads of luggage, ski boots, helmets, poles and ski bags. We were barely in the door when the doorbell
rang. It was a delivery for my
sister. As I handed her the package, she
mentioned that it was probably something she purchased on line.
What’s the furry thing in the box?
With curiosity, I watched
her tear through the outer packaging, rather quickly, to get to the box
containing her purchase. Within a minute
she was placing on her feet the furriest, warmest looking crock-style sandals I
had ever seen. The smile on her face was
as though she had just taken a bite of the most decadent dessert...EVER! The moment was short lived though, because
the phone rang. She jumped out of those
cosy looking sandals to never return to them for the entire length of our
stay. She also never went on line to
make another purchase from the Furry Crock style sandal company. The savory moment was short-lived. The temptation to go online to see what else the
company had to offer also had passed.
This peaked my interest.
How do eCommerce companies get people back to their sites to shop again? I am aware of many E-Tailers that include the
packing slip and some catalogs with their orders. The Melaleuca company does this well. Most
often inserting of catalogs and pack slips is usually a fully or semi manual
procedure. With the volume of on line
orders increasing so rapidly, I wonder where the break-even point will be for
many of these companies. After all Profit per Order is a key performance metric
that companies need measure. What is the tipping point?
Reaching out at time of delivery – profitability
It would make sense to reach out to the customer at time of
delivery as this is truly the only physical point of the entire on line
transaction. Companies need to decide
how to communicate with their customer using physical collateral compared to
digital focused messages. Most people will
hold on to a piece of marketing collateral or at the very least place it on the
computer table to check out later. If
the Marketing collateral contains a time limited special offer, the call to
action will most likely get the customer back to your site sooner than
later.
By automating the insertion of marketing collateral,
companies will be able to capitalize on cross- promotion opportunities. In a physical place, a grocery store can set
up an aisle display of hotdogs and buns situated next to a gigantic stack of
ketchup with a stack of discount coupons.
Grocery chain report that sales increase on all three items due to the
discount offer, the convenience of all three items being in close proximity of
each other and lastly people were hungry while they were grocery shopping.
A barrier to effective cross-promotion efforts
on line is the non-physical alignment of buying profiles. An on line shopper cannot smell the sample
through the computer screen. A swim wear
company selling swimwear apparel on line would benefit by including cross
promotion samples for offers of sunscreen products. The advantage of Cross-promotion is most
often the cost of the promotion will be less than media based advertising. Cross-promotion
marketing is the easiest and often one of the most successful marketing
strategies. Both companies can promote
their brand simultaneously through each other’s customer base. It provides the perfect method of
introduction to each other’s customers because their buying profiles are
aligned. When you think hot dogs what is
the condiment of choice? Hint; Mustard
is second choice. You betcha …Ketchup!
Automated
solutions are available today that can automatically insert a packing slip, and
samples into a box, tote or bag.
Depending on order volume the solutions offered can be fully automated
or semi-automatic. Automated Solutions
that offer variable data printing, on demand and provides collations of samples
simultaneously during the in line fulfillment of the order will best respond to
peak order demand. The Autoslip w collation system was designed to meet the peak order fulfillment demand
experienced by many large volume ecommerce companies.
